Frostfell Village
The Village (population 81), or Frostfell Village to avoid confusion, is the de facto name of the Frostfell's lone settlement, populated by the descendants of a crashed ship several hundred years ago. Until the arrival of the player characters in 998 YK, the Village had been wholly isolated since the day of its founding and never even required a name. The lack of new blood, foreign materials and sufficient resources has created many challenges for the settlement. 'People' The Village had the good luck to be founded by the survivors of an exploratory ship, staffed by self-sufficient adventurers from a variety of races and professions. The expertise of the original founders, passed down through generations, has allowed the Villagers to survive despite adverse conditions; however, much knowledge has been lost over the years. Literacy, arcane magic and languages other than common have almost disappeared in the Village, each being practiced only rarely and only by a few members of the population. In addition, the Village's small gene pool, in addition to the repeated contribution of the same elf to several generations, has caused genetic problems within the Village. Although the wide selection of races in the founder population (human, elf, dwarf, orc and possibly more) has limited the damage, the Village as a whole suffers from health issues that have disabled some of the population. 'Druids' The Village could not have survived without a long line of druids from its inception until 998 YK, who are necessary to perform the Ritual (see below). These druids also watch over the village and aid in wilderness survival whenever possible. Despite the necessity of their existence, however, druids tend to be drawn from those that cannot or will not fit into the tight-nit Village society. As a result, many Villagers may not care for druids as people, even if they recognize them as essential for survival. 'Notable Characters' *Young San Xie, or "Great-grandfather" - Village elder and sole remaining original settler of the Village. *Zhiyang - Village's strongest hunter, and fringe religious recruiter. *Xo Fei - Inexperienced druid. *Peng - Disabled master shipwright. 'The Ritual' Main article: Frostfell Ritual The Village is vitally dependant on the ocean to survive; neither plants nor most animals grow on the icy shore. Because of this, their diet consists mostly of fish, seals, whales and similar sea animals. However, the small strip of shoreline the Villagers settle could not usually support enough sea life to support a permanent community. A druidic ritual, conducted yearly on the eve of the spring equinox, is required to provide enough food to the community. During 997 YK, the Village's druid was killed in a wolf ambush during the ritual, and as a result, the Village was forced to endure famine throughout the year. Many Villagers, especially the very young and very old, died of starvation or were killed by wolves in their weakened state before the player characters arrived in 998 YK. Thanks to the help of the player characters, however, the ritual of 998 was successful, and the Villagers are expected to survive and thrive over the next year. Category:Cities